David Cameron's imitation of Julia Gillard's broad nasal inflection has been
panned in Australia as a diplomatic insult and "perhaps one of the
worst Aussie accents in history".

Ms Gillard, who was born in Wales, has frequently made self-deprecating remarks about her own accent – which is deeply nasal and consonant-swallowing, even by Australian standards.

But Mr Cameron's imitation, during a speech at the Lord Mayor of London's banquet, was roundly denounced, drawing unfavourable comparisons with James Coburn's accent in The Great Escape and Meryl Streep's in Evil Angels.

Mr Cameron attempted his impersonation – albeit with a disclaimer – while recounting a conversation he had with the Australian Prime Minister during the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Perth about the move to scrap laws that bar firstborn daughters from inheriting the British throne.

David Cameron's imitation of Julia Gillard's accent was during a speech at the Lord Mayor of London's banquet

"I turned to the Australian prime minister and said, 'thank you very much Julia for allowing us to have this meeting in Australia,'" Mr Cameron said. "And she said, I can't quite do the accent but I'll try – 'Not a bit David, this is good news for sheilas everywhere'."

Related Articles

Despite Mr Cameron's disclaimer, the impersonation triggered a wave of indignation in Australia, whose population has long had to endure low-quality fake Australian accents in performances on American and British film and television.

In an article headlined "Good day for Sheilas, bad day for accents", one commentator said the imitation was one of the worst Australian accents ever attempted and may have been revenge for Ms Gillard's failure to curtsy the Queen during last month's recent royal visit.

"Worse than James Coburn's half-Cockney, half-American attempt in The Great Escape," said Owen Vaughan on the news.com.au website. "Worse than Meryl Streep's "Ah Ding-gow ay-t my baibee. It's so bad it could cause a diplomatic row."

Earlier this year in New Zealand, she apologised for her "dreadful Australian accent" after mangling a traditional Maori greeting.

Ms Gillard's most recent public comment on her accent occurred during the CHOGM meeting. Asked by a British reporter whether her birth in the United Kingdom affected her views on whether Australia should become a Republic, she replied: "I am an Australian ... You don't get an accent like this from being anything else."

As Sydney's Daily Telegraph observed: "Prime Minister Julia Gillard has taken the mickey out of her own accent now British Prime Minister David Cameron has had a go."

And Ms Gillard herself drew criticism for using – according to Mr Cameron's account – a piece of Australian slang that is widely considered passe.